Blog 6 -- 9/29/11

Hermanito --

Hoy voy a ir al centro comercial. Compro ropa y zapatos.Despues, voy a ir al cine. Voy a ir con mis amigos. Necesitas limpiar. Limpia tu cuarto. Hace la cama. Limpia mi cuarto, tambien. Cocina cena para la familia. Saca la basura. Pasa la aspiradora en la sala. Limpia el bano. Tengo muy platos. Lavalos. No descanses. Haces muy quehaceres hoy. Gracias para haces quehaceres. Voy a llegar tarde. Ten cuidado. Ten un dia buena!

Adios!

5/17 -- Lord of the flies chapters once and doce (blog #7)

This was our last reading and we are now finished with the book. For the most part I like it. The book strives to teach multiple lessons that are quite significant.
I found a few ironic parts in this section also. Ralph was the character that always wanted to keep the fire going and not give up hope in being rescued. The fire was the most important symbol in the entire story for Ralph. Yet, Jack plans his death by starting a fire in the woods. I found it ironic that Ralph continually valued the fire, yet he could have came close to death due to fire.
Another ironic part in this section is the fact that the other fire is going for days and days, possibly even weeks, but the boys never get discovered. Then Jack started a fire so he could eventually kill Ralph. He no longer cared about being rescued. This is ironic because the navy officer was attracted by this fire. It hadn’t been burning for long, and they were discovered right away, compared to the other fire.
One part that stood out to me was the destruction of the conch. The conch is broken into pieces and will never have the ability to be put back together. This is the same as civilization. Civilization has ended and can never be brought back together. The boys who turned into savages will always be savages. They will never change their personalities.
Unknown words:
Ululation – howl; a loud emotional sound

5/16 -- Lord of the Flies chapters nueve and diez (blog #6)

Chapters 9 and 10 were an intense read. We experienced the death of Simon. His death was compared much to the death of Christ. He was brutally killed by Jack and others in his group. Some of them were kind of shocked that they had just killed Simon. Along with his Christ-like features and characteristics throughout the book, his death and his whole character are very similar to Christ.
At the end of Chapter 10, Jack was holding onto Piggy’s broken glasses. The thought of the broken glasses proves that civilization is broken and intelligence is basically gone since Piggy represented those two topics.
I found it somewhat interesting and kind of a coincidence that Simon was the only person that realized there was no beastie. He also knew that each and every person has evil inside themselves. He knew that the evil wasn’t in the beastie, but yet he was the first character to die. It was as if his own evil attacked him.
Towards the end of this reading, we can assume that the boys do not have any hope left. They don’t think they have any chance to be rescued. We can assume this because Ralph makes the final decision to let the fire go out. Without the fire, they have a tiny chance of being seen and rescued. I thought that Ralph is slowly turning into a savage and giving up hope if he lets the fire go out and does not care about being rescued.
Unknown words:
Haste (pg. 163) – unnecessary quick action
Beckoning (pg. 162) – gesturing or signaling something
Befouled (pg. 156) – dirty or filthy

5/12 -- Lord of the Flies chapters siete and ocho

The first part of this section that stood out to me was in chapter seven when Ralph stabs a boar. He is proud of himself for this achievement and sort of takes a liking to savagery. This disappointed me because Ralph is supposed to be a leader and stay civilized, yet he finds thrill through hunting. I didn’t think this was a good idea since he is supposed to be the leader and it makes me like him a little less.
One of my predictions came true. Jack is starting to become a leader for a group of savages. More and more boys are starting to become his followers and the number of civilized people is decreasing.
Another part that stood out to me was when the pig’s head starts talking to Simon. It was really strange that the pig’s head is talking. It is unrealistic and it disappointed me that this is supposedly the climax of the story. I thought it would be a little bit more exciting and exhilarating. I also didn’t understand why the pig’s head went after Simon. Throughout the whole book, Simon had seemed like the good guy. I think the reason the pig went after him is because he knew that there was no beastie and already understood the idea of evil. The pig’s head did not like this and wanted him to learn from it.
Overall, I did not enjoy these chapters. A few parts turned out the way I thought they would, but the rest seemed to make the book less interesting and kind of fake.

Unknown words:
Batty (pg. 143) – insane; crazy
Blunder (pg. 139) – to move or act blindly or stupidly

5/11 -- lord of the flies chapters cinco and seis

This week’s readings started to make the story become rather clear. Symbolism is playing a major part in the book now. The fading of civilization is symbolized. More and more boys are beginning to take their clothes off and become savages. The color of the conch was once pink, but now it has faded to a very light pink and transparent color. The clothing represents that some of the boys are becoming uncivilized and breaking apart from the rules, and the color of the conch represents that civilization is breaking down and is only becoming worse and worse.
I no longer have any respect for Jack at all. He does not want to listen to anyone’s ideas. He does not follow any rules. He is rude to everyone and feels so inferior that he does not need to help anyone out. All he wants to do is hunt and is not contributing to the group. I still like Ralph, though. He is trying his hardest to apply the rules to everyone. He is also working his tail off to get off of the island safely. I think that eventually more of the boys will start to follow Jack because they think he is a better leader and is “cool.” Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and maybe a few others will stay civilized, while the rest follow Jack and become savages. It may turn into a battle between the two groups.
One part I wasn’t sure about was when some of the boys discovered a group of people at the bottom of the island. Who were they? How did they get there? I became a little confused at that part. I don’t think there is actually a beastie either. I think the beastie is a combination of evil throughout all of the boys. Golding is trying to use symbolism and prove that there is a ‘beastie’ inside all of us.
Unknown words:
Oppressive (pg. 102) -- harsh
Emphatic (pg. 101) – uttered with emphasis
Ineffectual (pg. 79) -- powerless

5/10-- lord of the flies chapters tres and cuatro

After reading chapters three and four, I started to get a different opinion of certain characters. I don’t really like Ralph anymore. He is becoming a worse leader as the book goes on. I think he needs to be more demanding and controlling, and he also needs to quit blaming others for problems because his poor leadership is contributing to them. I started to like Jack a little better because he is finally learning that Ralph is a poor leader and does not do anything for the group. He starts to break away from Ralph, and I think this will make him a better person. I didn’t really have an opinion of Simon before, but I am taking a liking to him now and I think he is a nice role model for the younger boys.
I found it interesting that the older boys complain about the littluns because they don’t help at all, but the older boys aren’t doing much for the group either. They don’t think highly of the littluns. One of my predictions, though, is that by the end of the book, the littluns will be the ones that accomplished the mission while the lords did nothing. The littluns will be credited for their hard work.
A part of the book that I thought was strange is the fact that after Jack killed a pig, he felt somewhat inferior and did not want to stop killing. This could become dangerous. If someone becomes an enemy of Jack, he may try to kill them. That is another prediction of mine.
As the book goes on, the characters seem to get less and less civilized. If they do not start to concoct rules and follow them, then their mission will never be accomplished and they all will die.

Unknown words:
Inscrutable – not easily understood
Gaudy – flashy; brilliantly showy
Audible - capable of being heard

5/9 -- Lord of the Flies chapter dos

In this next chapter, the boys have a meeting to set rules and decide who will be put into what groups. Piggy is continued to be teased and ignored. He is meant to be the leader because he has excellent decision-making skills, is quite intelligent, and follows the rules. The only reason the boys do not listen to him is because of his physical characteristics. Piggy’s character is a symbol of a certain group in our society. The “nerds” in our society are quite similar to Piggy and are not heard.
At the end of the chapter, the boys realize that the boy with the birthmark is nowhere to be found. The boys have a feeling that he died but they are not sure how. This could be an example of foreshadowing. I think that they will discover this boy dead and will realize that they will have to work even harder and better as a team in order to survive.
I like the fact that Piggy wants to set rules and make sure that everyone, including Ralph and Jack, follow them. Without rules, society would be wild. Most people would not have self control and would become uncivilized. This fact is proven throughout this book. The boys will eventually learn that rules need to be set in order to accomplish their goals. In this chapter, certain kids take off their clothing and certain children leave their clothing on. This draws the line between who is civilized and who is uncivilized. It is obvious that certain characters who do not follow the rules symbolize people in our society today. Ralph and Jack are like people in our society because they think they are better than everyone else and rules do not need to apply to them. I do not like these two characters as much anymore.
I noticed on page 33 that Golding used onomatopoeia when talking about what would happen to the people that broke the rules. Some words were “wacco”, “bong”, and “doink.” All of these words add a nice, rhetorical effect to the story.
Unknown words:
convey – make known
hindering - preventing